It was the last day of Leh Ladakh Tour we started our journey from Pangong Lake back to Leh. Just 45 kms before the Leh there is this famous tourist destination Hemis Monastery. It has a strong historical significance as it was made around 11th century but was re-established in the year 1672 by the Ladakhi King Sengge Namgyal. It is the largest and the richest monastery of the region. Hemis Monastery has more than 200 sub-monasteries with a huge collection of antique artefacts including the famous statue of Buddha made of copper, sacred stupas made of gold and silver, sacred Thangkas and various other very old murals. The architecture of the Hemis Monastery is very colourful and influenced by the traditional Tibetan architectural style. The whole monastery is divided into two major parts the assembly hall (Dukhang) and the temple (Tshogkhang). There are some really rare wall paintings of Buddhist Kal Chakra.

Leh Ladakh (Leh Ladakh Tour)

We reached to Leh in the late afternoon, spent the evening resting and strolling in the Leh Market and preparing ourselves for the long journey back to Delhi taking the same route via Jispa, Manali, and Chandigarh. I still feel nostalgic thinking of good old memories of this specific Leh Ladakh Trip, though it was bit tiresome but every moment was enjoyable to the max. We not only fulfilled our interest of bird watching but also clicked some of the unique pictures of them as well as the fascinating surroundings tall mountain peaks with water streams and other landscape photos. Nest day morning we drove back to Manali and day later we were in Delhi. The Australian group had another couple of days stay in Delhi itself then they flew back to their homes in Australia. In the coming years we had planned many more trips for them to other parts of India which I will share in my future blogs.

As written in Indian Holy Book Geeta i.e. It’s the journey not the outcome that matters…

Next day we started our journey in the very early morning hours as the distance between Leh and Pangong Lake is around 170 Kms which takes around 4 to 5 hr drive. Pangong Lake is situated at the height of around 14200 ft on the Indo Chinese border with only one-fourth part lying inside the Indian borders. The entire route is through one of the toughest terrains, world’s third highest motor able road. The lake itself has a very picturesque surrounding, blue water body surrounded by white high mountain peaks. In fact this location has been often used in several movies and documentary films including the recent bollywood blockbuster ‘3 idiots’ climax scene was shot here. The recommended route is from Leh to Karu which is around 36 kms to Sakti to Chang La to to Durbuk toTangste to Lukung and to Spangmik.

Pangong Lake (Leh Ladakh Tour)

On the route our visit to Shey palace was planned as per our itinerary of the Leh Ladakh Tour. Shey Palace which in ruins now was built around mid of 16th century along with Shey Monastery near the Shey Village by the king of Ladakh Deldan Namgyal. The Shey monastery is famous for the giant copper statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. The name got derived from the word ‘Sakya’ i.e. people of Himalayan foothills and Kapilvastu as their capital. The total route is full of spots where one could easily spot bird fauna. Then we headed back to our route to Pangong Lake for the night stay at a resort named Pangong Camp Resort which one of the best accommodation facility available in that specific area. The scenic beauty of the Pangong Lake intensifies in the night especially under the moonlight the water colour remains blue as it is. Overall it is a mesmerizing experience taking a stroll around the lake in the evening/night.

It was day 4 in Leh of our Leh Ladakh Trip we were really excited for today because it was our trip to Sham Valley which included extensive bird watching activity throughout the way and around. Sham Valley is around 95 Kms from Leh which takes near to 4 hrs drive but as we had various stoppages at famous tourist destinations in between. We started early and our first stop was at Gurudwara Patthar Sahib’ which is built by the lamas of Leh around the year 1517 in order to honour the visit of Guru Nanak Dev. The scenic beauty around this Gurudwara is second to none. Just few minutes from there is the Magnetic Hill, as the name states when a vehicle is set on a neutral gear it starts sliding upward on the magnetic road. Here a vehicle can reach the speed of up to 2 kms per hour. Then we headed toward the Likir Monastery, the name Likir means coiled snake here it refer to two great spirits of Nanda and Taksako. It is one of the major monasteries in the region and picturesque surrounding is amazing. During the route, on and off we took time to fulfil another major purpose of travel which was bird watching which made the entire journey much more meaningful.

Leh (Leh Ladakh Tour)

Further we proceeded to Alchi Gompa, which is a group of temples situated in a village since 11th century. Near Alchi Gompa its Basgo, which was capital of Ladakh during 15th and 16th centuries, there are still some ruins present of that era. Also it included the palace which was built in the same era. The Basgo Monastary was built around 16th century by Namgyal rulers, it is situated on the top of the hill near the ruins of the ancient town. Finally we drove back another 40Kms to reach Leh from Basgo for the night stay at our hotel.

Next day we drove back to Leh after having early breakfast, we reached there at 11.30 AM. We directly went to the Shanti Stupa. It is situated at a height of 13999 ft around 5 kilometres from the main Leh, though it is well connected with the road but many people prefer alternate route of climbing 500 steps to reach the Shanti Stupa. It is the most popular tourist destination in the Leh, built by the Buddhist of Japan and Ladakh together in the year 1991. The purpose of constructing the Shanti Stupa is world peace and prosperity further it is a compliment to the strong relations between Japanese and Ladakhi people through the 2500 years old legacy of Buddhism as a religion. The whole Shanti Stupa is divided into two levels, the first level consist of Dharmachakra and the second level depicting birth, death and meditating states of Lord Buddha.

Leh Market (Leh Ladakh Tour)

After spending few hours there we headed toward the famous ‘Hall of Fame Museum’ which is dedicated to the people of Ladakh their art, culture, vegetation and wildlife also there are sections which are exclusively dedicated to army men who served their lives in various military operations during Kargil and Siachen wars. The arms and ammunitions seized from enemy country are on display along with the information about these terrains its difficulty and how people survive such altitudes are on display. Then in the evening we went to Leh market for some shopping, the market is similar to Diskit market but surely there are more shops in comparison. Some of the items which are hot in the tourist shopping lists are Pashmina wool garments including shawls, gloves, caps, stoles and sweaters etc. apart from them there are prayer wheels, Buddha faces or masks, Local Paintings, silver ornament, turquoise and wooden jewellery, carpets, rugs etc. We had dinner in the market itself as there are lot of eating joints serving local cuisines.

From there we drove to Sumur which is around 40 kms, the main tourist attraction here is Samstemling Monastery or Samstemling Gompa that has seven temples. Here one can get a glimpse of collection of wonderful tankas which is form of Tibetan cloth paintings. From Sumur we drove to Panamik which is around 20 kms from Sumur. Whole way we made several stoppages for the purpose of bird watching and clicked some exclusive photos as well. Panamik is situated at the height of 10442ft from the sea level is the last civilian area in this part of India, its proximity to Siachen Glacier makes this place more interesting. Siachen Glacier is the highest battle field in the world. Panamik is the last point to where tourists are allowed, beyond this it is restricted area under the control of Indian Army with its base camp in Siachen. Panamik is also famous for its hot spring. The water contains sulphur which said to be a natural treatment for any sorts of skin diseases or overall best for rejuvenation. Surrounded by snow-capped peaks the scenic beauty of Panamik is captivating it is nothing less than heaven for bird watchers like us.

Diskit (Leh Ladakh Tour)

Then as per our Leh Ladakh tour itinerary we returned to Diskit around 5 Pm for an evening walk in the local market. It is a single lane market in fact the whole village of Diskit is situated around it. There are certain shops where one can buy everything that is available in and around Leh and almost same rates. One can buy souvenirs like lucky charm, prayer wheels, prayer flags, wooden Tibetan curios, Buddha heads etc. Also it is advised to try the Sea Buckthorn Juice or Leh Berry Juice it is made from the berries found in the region of Ladakh. Its bit tangy in taste but really refreshing. We purchased some bottles of juice to take home as well. It was around 7 Pm and we went back to our hotel, had our dinner and went to sleep.

Another exciting day of our Leh Ladakh tour, this morning around 8.30 AM as per our itinerary schedule we went out for exploring the Nubra valley. Our first stoppage was at the Diskit Monastery then to nearby places Hunder, Panamik & Sumur. The Diskit Monastery or Diskit Gompa was made in 14th century. The huge 32 meter statue (more than 2 storeys high) of Maitreya Buddha is facing Shyok River towards Pakistan is the main attraction. It holds the mummified human forearm and head, which is said to be of a Mongol warrior. From Diskit we drove to Hunder which is around 8 Kms, it is famous for moonscape like scenery (cold desert environment), sand dunes and Bactrian camel, unlike other species of camels found in India it has two humps. The basic cultivation in Hunder is of rye and barley but one can easily spot some of the fine fruit orchids as well. We did the camel safari and remained there for almost 3 hours fulfilling our aim of bird watching as well.

Bactrian Camel at Hunder (Leh Ladakh Tour)

One nicest thing I observed about the inhabitants of Leh Ladakh is that people are very much concerned about their natural resources, culture and environment. There are lot of non government groups which are continuously working on the area’s conservation, investing their time and efforts for the same. In return the Ladakh and nearby areas are getting huge amount of revenues from increasing tourism every year. It is really hard to believe that even though the whole area is one of the remotest and toughest terrains but with the efforts of local people including governing authorities and even some groups of foreign nationals as well it has been flourishing like anything in terms of increase in percentage of tourism both domestic and global. In fact this can be easily related to Lord Buddha’s teaching i.e. the law of cause and effect is known as karma, nothing ever happens to us unless we be worthy of it. We get precisely what we earn, whether it is good or bad. Latter the modern science recognized this as Newton’s famous third ‘law of motion’ which states that every action has equal and opposite reaction. So the people here seems are deeply following this teaching by investing in nature and its resources, in return nature is giving back or fulfilling all that is required.

Around 4 PM, as per schedule of our Leh Ladakh tour itinerary we went out explore the surroundings. Diskit village is famous for the Diskit monastery which is situated on a hill near Shyok River. Apart from the Diskit monastery the lush green field around Diskit Village and truly enticing scenic beauty attracts lot of tourism during this time of the year. There are several trekking paths or sites also as per our bird watching touring plan we could spot some bird species like red fronted serin, white wagtail, citrine wagtail, white browed tit warbler, black redstart and chukar partridge etc. Diskit is the main centre point of Nubra valley all major government offices and other facilities are available here. We took a local guy with us who guided us through a trekking path of around 30 minutes to a traditional Ladakhi House which was situated at the outskirts of Diskit.

These houses are made from wood and mud bricks which are baked under the sun for days before usage. The wood from poplar tree is used to create the basic structure, further the house is plastered with white clay which is sourced locally. This overall strengthens the house and provides soothing effect the moment you enter any room. Some of these houses in the nearby areas of Leh are owned by hotels transformed into a full-fledged resort format i.e. available for rent accommodation for tourist with all upgraded facilities of traditional furniture, large courtyard, modern washrooms, sun terraces etc. It was around 6.30 PM so we trekked back to our hotel in main Diskit area, on our way back there wasn’t much to see as it was all dark but the twinkling lights in the houses or shops of Diskit and the monastery view was second to none. We had our dinner in the hotel itself and went in to sleep bit early as tomorrow we would be back in Nubra valley for some more excursion.